HUNDREDS of Clydebank women could be in line for compensation following a landmark legal decision recognising their deadly exposure to asbestos.

Last week, the Court of Session in Edinburgh ordered Babcock International Ltd to pay compensation to the children, grandchildren and siblings of Adrienne Sweeney, who lost her battle with mesothelioma – an extremely aggressive form of lung cancer – in August 2015.

She had never smoked but would wash the clothes of her husband William, who spent the 1960s working as a fitter at a boiler-making factor. But his overalls were “covered” in asbestos dust and he would often cuddle Adrienne while wearing them.

Clydebank, the former jewel in Scotland’s shipbuilding crown, has previously been called the “asbestos capital of Britain”, due to having the highest incident of asbestos-related disease per head of population in the UK.

Hope Robertson, of Clydebank Asbestos Group, said the decision was a “great victory”.

She told the Post: “This will definitely open the floodgates – and not before time.

“The case is going to open a lot of doors for a lot of other people. Women have been badly let down. Literally hundreds will be affected.

“We are 25 years old last year so we have been dealing with this legacy all this length of time.

“We know women were suffering but it was trying to prove the reason they ended up with this illness was because they washed their husbands clothes.”

Judge Lady Carmichael said there was clear evidence from 1965 that people were at risk of developing mesothelioma through secondary exposure to asbestos. She found that the company failed to take any precautions to protect relatives of its employees, such as having work clothes washed at the factory, until after 1971.

As a result, she ruled that Babcock International Ltd had “negligently exposed [Mrs Sweeney] to asbestos, and materially increased the risk that she would develop mesothelioma”.

Clydebank Waterfront councillor Marie McNair, chairwoman of the West Dunbartonshire HSCP, welcomed the “landmark” ruling.

She said: “I welcome this landmark decision and hope that many women are able to secure justice because of this case.

“It makes me so angry that those cruelly exposed to asbestos have to battle against the strength of these companies and their expensive lawyers.

“Mrs Sweeney was just caring for her husband and cleaning this killer dust from his overalls.

“The danger of exposure was hidden from many working class families and this is criminal.

“Mrs Sweeney did not have to die this way and her family have to be commended for the dignity and determination they showed in taking this case forward to secure justice.

“I stand with the Clydebank Asbestos Group in urging Bankies to get the advice and support they deserve and will strongly support any constituents who contact me about this.”

Gil Paterson, Clydebank MSP, added: “This justice has taken a long time to be implemented and this should see other families who have suffered the same get proper recognition for the damage done by asbestos.”

Scotland has the highest rate of mesothelioma in the world.

Traditionally seen as a largely male disease affecting former workers in heavy industry and shipyards, an increasing number of women are being diagnosed.

Lady Carmichael said it was probable Mrs Sweeney had “shook out and washed clothes visibly contaminated with dust, at least once a week, over a period of years”.

She added: “I am satisfied that this exposure would have been known to the defenders, and that the quantities of dust produced by operations, particularly those involving the production and use of asbestos paste, should have alerted them to the risk that dust would be carried home on clothing.”

The Clydebank Asbestos Group can be contacted at 0141 951 1008.